The ICE Futures canola market was narrowly mixed at Tuesday’s close after trading to both sides of unchanged in choppy activity.
Gains in the Chicago soy complex and weakness in the Canadian dollar provided some support, helping the nearby November contract briefly trade back above the psychological C$800 per tonne mark. However, selling pressure came forward at that level and the November contract eventually settled a dollar lower on the day at C$785.60 per tonne.
Seasonal harvest pressure and recent weakness in European rapeseed futures contributed to the softer tone in canola.
On the other side, canola is looking cheap compared to its product values, which should be bringing in some end user demand.
About 53,617 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 24,141 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 34,832 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were stronger on Tuesday as bullish technical signals encouraged some speculative buying. Positioning ahead of Wednesday’s interest rate announcement from the United States Federal Reserve was thought to be a feature in many financial and commodity markets, including the soy complex, with most traders expecting to see at least a 75-point hike in interest rates.
Condition ratings for the U.S. soybean crop dipped one point in the good-to-excellent category, now at 55 per cent, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
Meanwhile, the harvest was just getting started at three per cent complete, as of this past Sunday. That’s slightly behind the average of five per cent done for this time of year.
CORN posted solid gains on Tuesday. Condition ratings were down one point at the week, coming in at 52 per cent good-to-excellent, according to the USDA.
The U.S. corn harvest came in at seven per cent complete, up five points on the week, but still slightly off the average of eight per cent done
WHEAT was sharply higher in ‘Turnaround Tuesday’ activity as the buying interest built on itself and some stops were hit.
The U.S. spring wheat crop was 94 per cent harvested as of this past Sunday, which was in line with the average. Next year’s winter wheat crop was 21 per cent seeded, which compares with the average of 17 per cent. However, topsoil moisture levels were very dry in some key wheat growing areas and will likely hurt germination.
Ukraine’s winter wheat crop was nine per cent seeded, according to reports out of the country, with total area expected to be down by 17 per cent on the year given the ongoing conflict.
